Use idiom for expressions that must be learned as units, such as “spill the beans” or “give way.” A metaphor can be invented once, but an idiom has currency in shared use.
Use idiom for expressions that must be learned as units, such as “spill the beans” or “give way.” A metaphor can be invented once, but an idiom has currency in shared use.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| She used three idiom in the essay. | She used three idioms in the essay. |
| “Open the door” is an idiom. | “Open the door” is a literal phrase. |
| He translated the idiom word by word and kept the meaning. | He translated the idiom by finding an equivalent expression. |
| The idiom “under weather” means feeling ill. | The idiom “under the weather” means feeling ill. |
Use idiom in this sense for a distinctive way of speaking or writing. It is more formal and literary than dialect, and it can cover style as well as regional language.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The speaker's idiom were recorded. | The speaker's idiom was recorded. |
| A single vowel sound is an idiom. | A single vowel sound is part of pronunciation. |
| The local idiom means one proverb. | The local idiom means the local way of speaking. |
| The report studied idiom changes in one verb ending. | The report studied changes in one verb ending. |
Use idiom for the shared style a work draws on, such as a jazz idiom or a modernist idiom. It sounds more formal than style and often points to a tradition or medium.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The painting has an idiom of war because it shows soldiers. | The painting has a wartime subject. |
| The composer's idiom are easy to hear. | The composer's idiom is easy to hear. |
| The novel is in a red idiom. | The novel is in a realist idiom. |
| The chef used an architectural idiom in the soup. | The chef used a culinary style in the soup. |
Use idiom for a coding pattern that experienced readers recognize as natural in a language. It is smaller and more local than a software design pattern, and it is not the same as an algorithm.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The code uses many idiom to handle errors. | The code uses many idioms to handle errors. |
| We need an idiom to sort the list faster than quicksort. | We need an algorithm to sort the list faster than quicksort. |
| Copy the Python idiom unchanged into C. | Use the idiom that is natural in C. |
| The compiler executes the idiom. | The compiler executes the code written in that idiom. |
Use idiom first for fixed expressions whose meaning is not built word by word. In formal contexts it can also name a distinctive speech style, artistic manner, or programming pattern.
Calling every fixed phrase an idiom overstates the word, because an idiom has a learned whole-expression meaning or a distinctive style.
From French idiome and Late Latin idioma, from Greek idiōma, meaning a peculiarity or special form of expression, from idios, “one's own.”
What does idiom mean?
Idiom most often means a fixed expression whose meaning cannot be worked out from the separate words alone.
Is every phrase an idiom?
No. A literal phrase such as open the door is not an idiom unless it has a learned meaning as a whole expression.
Can idiom mean a dialect?
Yes. In formal use, idiom can mean the characteristic language or way of speaking of a place, group, or period.
What is an idiom in programming?
In programming, an idiom is a familiar way of writing a small construct so that the code feels natural in that language.
Where does idiom come from?
Idiom comes through French and Latin from Greek idiōma, a peculiarity or special form of expression.